Legendary choral director celebrated at homecoming

Published 3:48 pm, Thursday, October 6, 2016

A giant-sized display, an evening of Broadway showstoppers and a morning of song will highlight the Oct. 6-8 homecoming of choir students at South Houston High School.

The display, entitled called "Song, Go On," honors the 30-year tenure of Sally Schott, who retired in 2004 after 39 years with Pasadena ISD, including 30 as choral director at South Houston.

"It will be officially unveiled on Thursday, in a room adjacent to the school's Hall of Honor museum that opened last year," Schott said.

The display features three glass cases of memorabilia and a swinging panel exhibit of dozens of choir photos, sorted by school year, that highlight major performances and special events.

"On the walls of the exhibit are large canvas photos of Sally's musical productions, an annual South Houston tradition that won praise from the Houston fine arts community and provided her students with a lasting bond," said Al Carter, Pasadena ISD's coordinator of alumni development.

Nearly 200 of Schott's former students raised more than $11,000 to fund the display and other planned choir legacy projects, Carter said. About three dozen of her former students helped put together the exhibit, whose title comes from a song written for a performance by her students at a national conference.

More than 70 South Houston alumni will perform, along with some current choir members, in the second day of homecoming activities, a 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 performance at the school, called "Broadway Extravaganza II." Among the songs will be music from a number of the Broadway shows that Schott directed at the school, including "Annie Get Your Gun," "Anything Goes," "Camelot," "Carousel," "Fiddler on the Roof" (which Schott directed twice because it's her favorite musical), "Guys and Dolls," "Hello, Dolly!," "Kiss Me, Kate," "My Fair Lady," "Les Misérables," "Oklahoma!," "Showboat," "South Pacific" and "West Side Story," along with "The Addams Family," which was South Houston's entry in last year's Tommy Tune Awards, and "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," which this year's students recently performed.

Proceeds from "Broadway Extravaganza II" will support the school's production of a spring musical that will compete in the 15th annual Tommy Tune Awards next year, head choir director Brenda Varvoutis said.

The first "Broadway Extravaganza" was a series of revues in May 2004 to commemorate Schott's departure from the school.

Opera singer Mary Bowen, who was featured in the 2004 "Extravaganza," who will be perform in the Oct. 6 event.

Schott said that Bowen, who graduated from South Houston in 1991, will sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel," "So in Love" from "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Somewhere" from "West Side Story."

"These are just the soloists," Schott said. "Many more alums, with graduation dates ranging from 1974 to 2007, have signed up to participate. They live in the Pasadena/Deer Park/Clear Lake/Pearland/Friendswood areas, as well as within Houston city limits."

On Oct. 8, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, another nostalgic choral event at the school will precede South Houston's homecoming football game against Deer Park at 1 p.m.

"Saturday morning, during our time of reminiscing and viewing the displays and scrapbooks, we will be listening to and singing some songs special to the choir over the years," Schott said.

The educator, who grew up in Beggs, Oklahoma, was studying for her master of music education degree in Denton when she signed up to interview for a job at Pasadena ISD, thinking it was in Pasadena, California.

"I didn't know there was a Pasadena in Texas," she said. "I came in 1965."

Schott lived in Pasadena and then for a year in Clear Lake while teaching in Pasadena ISD. She now lives in The Woodlands and supervises student teachers for the University of Houston while also serving as a choral music consultant for schools in the Conroe, Spring, Montgomery and Sheldon school districts.

Schott has published five music reading books and produced four DVD documentaries featuring renowned choral musicians, Carter said.

Tickets for "Broadway Extravaganza II" will be sold at the door for $5 (students) and $10 (adults). Curtain time on Oct. 7 is 6:30 p.m. in the school auditorium, auditorium, 3820 S. Shaver, Houston.